Simtest-elec: a virtual laboratory for the test of terminal controllers for electric heating systems following a draft European standard

CEN TC247 has prepared draft standards for main types of room controllers. These standards include a performance testing procedure that was designed to facilitate the introduction on the market of electronic controllers. The test procedure is based on the connection of the real controller to be tested to a virtual (simulated) building and technical plants. The objective of the study which is carried out in the frame of a French research project SIMTEST-Elec is the development of a testing method for control systems for electrical heating applications by emulation techniques. The paper presents the development of models and the hardware interfaces necessary to build the test benches. Both have been carried out in Matlab/Simulink environment, an environment widely used in the control field and very suitable for emulation techniques. For each application, validation of the test bench is carried out by comparing the tests of real controllers in a real test cell with a test of the same controllers on the new virtual test bench. The validation results show good agreement between the real test cell and the developed test bench for the test of terminal controllers. The method is now being transferred to the European CEN-TC247 committee for integration in the standard for terminal control.